Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Oregon

#1
OneManGang

OneManGang

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[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Oregon[/FONT]
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[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]E[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]arly in the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqis actually did score something of a victory. Marines in the flyblown border town of Khafji had been hearing the distinctive squeak of tracks and rumble of tank engines all day. Finally, during the early evening of January 29. the noise resolved itself into the entire Iraqi 5[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Mechanized Division bearing down on the scattered Marine outposts. Calls for air support went unanswered as the radio net lit up like a Christmas Tree of Situation Reports and other calls for air support, artillery, tanks, anything you've got! Khafji fell rather quickly and chin-pulling “experts” on American TV news shows intoned about how the Iraqis had a military tradition dating back to Nebuchanezzar, stockpiles of modern Soviet-built tanks, had been in real combat against the Iranians for the last ten years and the Americans and their Coalition were doomed to defeat in the sands. The fact that these self-same “experts” just the month before had been holding forth with equal seriousness about amount of cleavage Pamela Anderson was displaying on “Baywatch” was, we were told, no reason to doubt their profound intellectual efforts.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]M[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]ilitary professionals knew better. Khafji was retaken and the Iraqi armored formations wilted under the onslaught of American airpower. Out to the west, though, the real difference between the Americans and their Iraqi opponents began to manifest itself.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]B[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]eginning with the end of the Vietnam War, the US Army began an effort to not only purge the ghosts of that benighted expedition but to plan for the future. A group of young officers were selected and organized to prepare a new doctrine and recommend new weapons and tactics to “win the first battle of the next war.” Once they had completed their efforts, these men were sent out to formations throughout the Army to spread the new gospel. They became known as the “Jedi Knights.” The doctrine they created was formalized as the “Air-Land Battle” plan which made use of such new weapons as the M-1 battle tank, the M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and the UH-60 Blackhawk guided by the then-new and highly secret GPS systems to move American formations across the battlefield at hitherto unheard of speeds while using advanced fire-control systems to deal death at similarly unprecedented distances. The troops referred to the doctrine as “Hyper-War.”[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]A[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]long the trackless desert marking the western border between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, a massive American armored formation swung into position. The cavalcade covered dozens of miles in every direction, helicopter pilots weaving overhead hooted into their radios at the sight. They had come from Germany. They were professionals, the varsity, the True Disciples of Hyper-War. In the cavalcade were US Army VII Corps on the right with XVIII Airborne Corps on the left. All told there were nine divisions, three of them armored, two cavalry regiments and the 101st Airmobile, the 82nd Airborne, and British 1st Armored. Well over 900 M-1A1 tanks and over a thousand M-2s waited. At 0800 on February 25, radios of the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division crackled with the code words “DRAGONS ROAR!” and the regimental psy-ops troops played the “Ride of the Valkyries” over their sophisticated speaker systems. The largest armored attack conducted by the US Army since Operation COBRA in 1944 jumped off and swept across the border. Hell was on its way to breakfast. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]1. The team that makes the fewest will win.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]R[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]eviewing the carnage in Eugene, Vol fans are left with this realization: The roots of the disaster were laid long before Butch Jones ever showed up on Rocky Top. Tennessee's critical error was allowing its overall talent level and recruiting efforts to languish in the mid 2000's and the Vols were left with its players in the proper positions to make the plays but simply unable to match the velocity of the Ducks. In Iraq, VII Corps blasted through hitherto vaunted Iraqi armored units that were typically unaware the Americans were in the vicinity until Mach 4.5 armor-piercing rounds began blowing the turrets off their tanks.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE![/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

R[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]eality should have set in Saturday when it became obvious that Tennessee's players were simply out-classed by the Ducks. I was reminded of Tennessee's dismantling of Michigan in the 2001 Citrus Bowl. In that tilt, Tennessee's team speed left the Maize and Blue scratching their collective heads and chasing ghosts. Ten years ago, Tennessee vs Oregon would have been one heckuva ballgame. Sadly … [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don’t let up … PUT ON MORE STEAM!

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] A[/FONT]fter feasting on Western Kentucky miscues last week, the Vols simply created NO breaks Saturday in Eugene. In 1991, Iraqi tank commanders were amazed that M-1 gunners could pick them off at over 3,000 meters. They thought such ranges beyond the capabilities of tank cannon. Tennessee's secondary seemed to have similar problems.

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.

[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]S[/FONT]oviet tank doctrine called for the battlesight on the main gun of a T-72 to be set at 1800 meters. “Battlesight” is the range where the impact of the the projectile and the aim point through the sights are the same. The T-72 was the chosen mount of the “elite” Iraqi formations and they dutifully followed the manual. As tank battles broke out across the VII Corps front, the Americans saw round after round from Iraqi tanks kicking up dust 200 to 300 meters short of the M-1s. The Americans were trained to hit tanks at over 2000 meters and the desert provided a perfect setting to demonstrate this. Vol quarterback Justin Worley would appear to have a “battlesight” range of about 20-25 yards with 30 yard passes routinely hitting five yards or so short of the intended receiver.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] S[/FONT]eemingly the only bright spot Saturday was the way the Vol defense swarmed around the ballcarrier – when they could catch him. The Vols' vaunted offensive line found itself at loss when the Oregon defense refused to stand its ground and get shoved around. The Ducks multiple flexible defensive packages and overall speed stymied Tennessee at every turn.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.

[/FONT] I repeat what I wrote after the Austin Peay Game, having Palardy as the Vols ONLY kicker puts a lot of very important eggs in one basket.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

7. Carry the fight to Oregon and keep it there for sixty minutes.

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] N[/FONT]ot even close. Tennessee fought hard when they could get their hands on the Ducks and suck them into a close-range shootout that negated many of Oregon's manifest advantages. Other wise, the Vols chased their own tail all day. They finally caught it, jumped straight up and fell over in a heap.

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]G[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]oing back to the question your scribe posited after the Austin Peay game, “What do we the Vol Fans know now that we didn't know at 3:29 EDT Saturday?"[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

Answer: Not much. Tennessee's plummet into college football mediocrity has been well documented and bemoaned on call-in shows and message boards across Our Fair State. The good news is that in Butch Jones and his staff we may – MAY - mind you, have found our own “Jedi Knights” who can lead the Orange and White back to the Promised Land and leave future teams such as the 2013 Ducks scratching their heads and wondering, “Who ARE those guys?” It is going to take time, new and improved weapons and effort to instill the confidence to use them properly. That being said, I have a level of hope I didn't have at 3:29 pm Saturday that Coach Jones can get this done.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not note a personal connection to VII corps.[/FONT]
​

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]In 1970, the 11th Armored Cavalry surged into Cambodia in an ill-starred effort to eliminate NVA and VC staging areas otherwise immune to American attack in that “neutral” country. As the Black Horse Cav rolled into the fly-blown hamlet of Snuol, the leading elements were engaged by a few VC and called in Cobra helicopters to deal with them. For whatever reason, the Cobra gunners decided the VC were using M-48 Pattons and rocketed the American column. Among the casualties were two officers. One was Fred Franks who recovered from the “traumatic amputation” of one of his legs but would remain in the Army and it was he who commanded VII Corps twenty-one years later. Lying near him at the casualty evac area was my Brother-in-Law. Bill would be flown out by helicopter shortly after Franks. Bill's future Son-in-Law also went to war in 1991 as an artilleryman.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I salute them all.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
MAXOMG [/FONT]
 
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#2
#2
Thanks, OMG. I always look forward to these, especially after after yesterday. We are where we are, and we have to play the game with the players we have. We don't have to like it, but those young men in orange are the ones that have to go out and do it. They need us to have their backs.
 
#3
#3
Thank, OMG for the great analogies and for putting things into perspective. The Vols will be back on top in due time.
 
#4
#4
I admit I was tempted to just write:

"The race may not always go to the swiftest nor the fight to the strongest - but that's the way to bet."

And be done with it.
 
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#8
#8
Ill will be honest when I say I have never read the maxims posts before, but I read this one and WOW… Great job OP. I have to agree with everything you said.
I’m reminded of something that I was told once.
The story goes that "Thomas Edison failed more than 1,000 times when
trying to create the light bulb". When asked about it,
Edison allegedly said, "I have not failed 1,000 times. I have
successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb."

What can the Vols take from this? We discovered 59 ways not to play football. We saw are weak spots now we can go back to practice and work on them. We saw that our QB isn’t the best at passing on the run or that our defense is lacking in speed. We cant expect a National Championship team the first season of coach Jones. Just a Edison failed at making the light bulb 1,000 times, he stuck with it and in the end prevailed.
 
#9
#9
2EZ said:
Navy Airman "70"

Mach 2 A-5 " Tuner"


Lets Roll!

:hi:
Click to expand...

I thank you for your service, Sir.

The "Viggie" was one of the Navy's more interesting aircraft that just never quite lived up to its potential. The A-5 carried its bombs or spare fuel tanks in a tunnel-shaped internal bomb bay between the engines. The ordnance was dropped via a door at the rear of the plane between the afterburners, with obvious resemblance to an oversized bird pooping. According to legend, occasionally the rear door would open as the big jet was shot down the catapult, causing great distress among the flight deck crew!

It was, however, one of the best-looking strike planes to ever grace a carrier deck.

ra-5c.gif
 
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#10
#10
OMG...thanks for the post...I was lined up in that vast desert 22 years ago, as the "Tip of the Spear" with 3AD, and that gave me chills
 
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#11
#11
OneManGang said:
I admit I was tempted to just write:

"The race may not always go to the swiftest nor the fight to the strongest - but that's the way to bet."

And be done with it.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you didn't! :hi: Thanks muchly...brick by brick...
 
#12
#12
OneManGang said:
I thank you for your service, Sir.

The "Viggie" was one of the Navy's more interesting aircraft that just never quite lived up to its potential. The A-5 carried its bombs or spare fuel tanks in a tunnel-shaped internal bomb bay between the engines. The ordnance was dropped via a door at the rear of the plane between the afterburners, with obvious resemblance to an oversized bird pooping. According to legend, occasionally the rear door would open as the big jet was shot down the catapult, causing great distress among the flight deck crew!

It was, however, one of the best-looking strike planes to ever grace a carrier deck.

ra-5c.gif
Click to expand...

Looks like it influenced the design of the F-15. :)
 
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#13
#13
vol_in_ar said:
OMG...thanks for the post...I was lined up in that vast desert 22 years ago, as the "Tip of the Spear" with 3AD, and that gave me chills
Click to expand...

You have no idea just how much it means to a military historian to write something and have a vet say, "You got it right."

I am humbled.
 
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#14
#14
Wonderful write up as always OMG. But one thing. I think you mean General Frederick Franks. Not Tommy Franks.
 
#19
#19
I was a marine in the reactionary force that responded to the taking of Khafji. You are spot on with your analogy. If I may, I will add one point. The Iraqi's rolled toward Khafji with their turrets turned backwards in the universal sign of surrender. This bought them a little time and when they arrived and swung the turrets around and took the town it was ON. I dare say that Justin Worley's first drive and stellar TD strike had the exact same effect.
 
#23
#23
OneManGang said:
VB, I had heard that story of the reversed turrets and meant to include it.

And thank you.
Click to expand...
I can't fully express how much I look forward to these every Monday! Oh, BTW, your "stand-in" was fantastic, as well. That was an outstanding choice!
 
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